Fading Echoes
by Echotrail
Summary: When a kit is found half-dead in the middle of nowhere, two she-cats of opposite upbringings must put aside their differences to help one another to raise the kit. But when the threesome are tragically separated by a dramatic turn of events, the kit is forced to fend for herself, but will she be able to fight the dark voices in her head, and do what's right? O.C story. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Allegiances:

(Note: Some cats may be missing from here. Forgive me if I miss any and let me know if I did miss one. I am slightly new to making allegiances. The Bloodclan cat descriptions are taken from my friend, Mallowbloom, with permission. Otherwise, enjoy!)

Bloodclan:

Leader: Scourge: Small black tom with a white paw and icy blue eyes.

Deputy- Bone: Battle scarred, muscular black and white tom with green eyes

Warriors:

Brick: Grey tom.

Pixie: Fluffy white she-cat with green eyes, a scarred muzzle and yellowing tail.

Marmalade: Muscular ginger tom with yellow eyes.

Scarlette: Russet tabby she-cat with indigo eyes.

Primula: Cream colored she-cat with violet eyes.

Nix: Pure white tom with blue eyes.

Kage: Tortoiseshell tom with gray eyes.

Spera: Calico she-cat with green eyes.

Queens:

Kietsu: Gray tabby with coal black strips and emerald green eyes, russet gray facial markings and a green collar, mother to Scourge's kits; Dread and Bane.

Kits: (Both un-born)

Dread: Pale gray tabby with emerald eyes, white tail tip, underbelly, right back leg and pale fawn, beige lynx facial markings.

Bane: Dark gray tom with white underbelly and all white paws except for back left leg. Has a scarred bobtail and torn left ear, has blue eyes.

Elders:

Jay: Elderly black-and-white she-cat.

Flayclan:

Leader- Sequoiastar: Sleek she-cat with white as newly fallen snow fur, one right cerulean blue eye and one yellow-green left eye. Has light, faded, storm cloud gray markings highlighting nose, shin, forehead and face area.

Deputy- Swiftdrop: Light, silvery-charcoal toned tom with gray-blue eyes.

Medicine Cat- Rosegaze: Fluffy gingery-orange and light reddish tortoiseshell fur with darker rosy-brown highlights, white furred chin and salmon colored eyes.

Warriors:

Emberspots: Muscular, light furred, tortoiseshell tom with blazing auburn eyes.

Brackenberry: Light, sandy-bracken furred tom with a slender build and murky olive green eyes. (Apprentice: Tornpaw)

Silentsun: Slim, velvet orange and white colored she-cat with soft brown eyes.

Skystone: Sleek, silvery-gray she-cat with blue-gray eyes.

Apprentices:

Tornpaw: Rambunctious fluffy young tom with cloud-white fur with dark, pepper-brown splotches, and gray-green eyes.

Elders:

Quiverclaw: Shaggy she-cat with creamy, fading-gray fur and soft blue eyes, left eye is blind.

Cats with unknown clans or no clans:

Softshadow: silvery-gray tortoiseshell she-cat with darker charcoal-black markings, ringed tail, white toned chin, underbelly, and misty green eyes.

Evendawn: Small, slender she-cat with soft, honey fur and sunset orange eyes.

Forestprint: Fast moving, velvety, reddish-brown furred she-cat with dandelion yellow eyes.

Echotrail: Sleek and slender dusty-brown furred she-cat with a dark, hazel-brown covered overcoat; leaf-green eyes; bobbed tail, later wears an orange collar with a black striped pattern.

_* * * Prologue * * * _

In the darkness of moonhigh, two cats padded through dense, and heavily shrouded undergrowth. Their pelts were thick with rainwater, and their paws were shaky, and caked with mud. After some walking, they came upon a small clearing, in which they could finally see eye to eye.

The first cat was an elegant, slender she-cat with velvety reddish-brown fur, and unripe dandelion eyes that could stare down any foe, yet alter themselves into soft, nurturing eyes all but with one single blink. Her name was Forestprint. A stubborn, headstrong she-cat with a bitter longing for lust that lurked inches beneath the surface for any tom who would be foolish enough to fall for her devious good looks.

The other cat, yet another she-cat, was almost a complete opposite of her fellow traveler. Her name was Evendawn. She had tiny, delicate paws that made not but a sound when they made contact with the ground, and large, silky, smooth ears that were soft like stems of herbaceous flowers. Her eyes were a soft, gentle sunset orange, like the shades a small flame would cast when burning atop a candle head. Her fur flowed evenly in gentle little wisps and shone the finest shades of honeys and gold. She was a quiet, misunderstood one, that would much rather go unnoticed all her life, then be adored by many cats.

Forestprint's optics flickered, their faded dandelion shade of yellow vibrant and aglow as the moon's light cast it's milky glow down on them.

"Well?" she hissed in a displeased annoyance. "Are we here? Because I, for one, am not moving an inch until you tell me exactly _what_ is going on. Do I make myself clear?"

Evendawn narrowed her eyes and flicked her tail, fed up with the dreadful she-cat's nagging and bickering. In fact, as she had recalled, Forestprint hadn't managed to keep her muzzle quiet for more then a few heartbeats the entire journey.

"Just wait a minute!" Evendawn replied hastily in her soft as silk voice. "Miracles don't just happen to show up, you know."

"Oh, please, darling." Forestprint snorted, waving a paw daintily. "However you suppose I was born?"

Evendawn shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I'm… not going to answer that, if you don't mind." She answered respectively.

Forestprint glared, miffed at the other she-cat's seriousness. "So, why exactly are we here?" she inquired, flicking her long tail.

Evendawn closed her eyes and tilted her head to one side while sighing loudly. "Can I trust you to keep a secret, Forestprint? It's extremely important that you do not breath a word of this to any other cat in the forest. Alright?"

Forestprint, startled by the sudden importance in Evendawn's tone nodded rather quickly.

With a wave of her tail, Evendawn crept over to a large oak tree. Damp leaves were scattered by its twisting and winding roots, which poked up from beneath their earthly surface. Parting the leaves with her nose, she unearthed something that was much too difficult for Forestprint to see, what with the darkness and pile of leaves. Dipping her head, Evendawn grabbed whatever it was and strode over to Forestprint, uneasiness in her melting-orange eyes. She stopped suddenly in front of her companion's paws, and placed the whatever-it-was down.

Forestprint's eyes flickered down to her paws, and a gasp-like noise escaped her throat.

What Forestprint saw, was a small, filthy kit, lying in a small, quivering bundle.

"Great Starclan, above!" she gasped, dropping to her belly and collecting the mewling kit in a close, nest-like embrace. "What is the little darling doing this far from home? How long has it been here? Where did you find it? Where is its parents?" her eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Are they dead? Great Starclan, they're dead, aren't they?"

"Get a hold of yourself, Forestprint, honestly!" Evendawn yowled. She dropped down beside Forestprint, who was frantically licking the kit, and sighed.

"I'll tell you, but… you promise not to tell anyone?"

Forestprint looked up and nodded quickly.

"Alright," Evendawn started. "Well, a quarter moon ago, I was busy tracking an injured quail, when I lost my footing. I stumbled, and in effect, the quail herd me and took off in a series of fluttering hobbles. Not wanting to lose my prey so easily, I followed after it. Its scent trail led me here, and well, this is where I found the kit. See that gorse bush over there? I found her half dead in that. She was mewling so quietly you could barely hear it, but I did. I was so glad I found here when I did, because she was much, much thinner than she is now, and was covered in wounds."

Forestprint turned her head to see a gorse bush, a fox length away, coated in a thick layer of past rainwater. Its bright yellow color was since dying as the time of leaf-fall was well on its way.

She turned back to face Evenfall, and looked down at the kit with sad eyes. "Poor little thing, however have you been able to come and check to see if she's alright?"

"Do you recall my recent disappearances shortly after eating fresh kill with the clan?" Evendawn questioned her companion.

Forestprint scrunched up her nose in recollection, tilting her head slightly and nibbling her lip. "Ah, yes! Now I remember, you would dart off saying you thought you heard something, or something in that air of peculiar-ness, nonetheless."

Evendawn nodded respectfully. "I was heading off to check on the kit."

Suddenly, Forestprint made a squeaking sort of noise in her throat that made Evendawn look up. "Darling, however have you been feeding her? She's much too young to be eating meat. And oh, she looks awfully thin…"

With a clearing of her throat, Evendawn looked away, as if discomfited by the topic. "Do you… recall my stillborn litter of kits?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Forestprint's eyes softened. "Oh…so you mean to say that you've been supplying her with the milk you've had left?"

Evendawn nodded, stifling her sadness. "Y-Yes…But it hasn't been enough, and… and… She'll get skinny and die of hunger, or frost if I can't take care of her."

Flicking her luxurious feather-like tail, Forestprint wrapped it around her friend for moral support.

Evendawn looked at her with tired eyes, but managed to crack a single, small grin.

Forestprint, despite having almost nothing in common with the other cat, returned the grin. "She's a beautiful one, not much to look at, and a little small, but certainly a finely featured little she-cat, indeed."

Chuckling Evendawn moved closer to stare at the little kit. Now that Forestprint had properly cleaned her fur, she could now see that it was a wonderfully dusty shaded peppery-brown. A large portion of her back was a richer, darker brown, like that of moist soil during rare summer rains. Her tail was short, in fact it was nothing more then a tuft, like that of a bobcat's. Her tiny, delicate nose was the same rich soil color that covered almost her whole back, and her eyes, which were always blinking and were merely half open, were a dark, khaki green color, like the color of a sapling's leaves in newleaf.

Forestprint's face lit up quite suddenly. "She needs a name! Evendawn, let's name her now. Can't we, please?"

Evendawn smiled is amusement. "I suppose she does, now doesn't she?" she tilted her head and thought for a moment, staring at the little, softly breathing fluff of fur. "Hmm… Perhaps…"

"Her name needs to be something unique, what does she remind you of?" Forestprint asked, piping up.

Evendawn thought back for a moment, and then a foreign memory resurfaced from her early kitten-hood. She remembered bouncing on the large boulders, and curved rocks that covered a slanted slope on the base of a wooded mountain. She had lived in that forest for the early days of her life with her fellow clanmates. The mountain in which the clan had dug out in areas to make cave-like dens had been given the name, 'Echo Valley' for it's caverns that dotted the mountain ridges that were rumored to be filled with precious gems and rare ores.

"Echo." Evendawn said with an air of finality. "We shall call her Echo. Little Echokit."

Forestprint smiled. "Lovely."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Greetings Darlings! I hope you all like Fading Echoes so far! I hope to have another chapter up by this Sunday! This chapter will be a little odd, seeing as I wanted to be a bit creative and explore different themes with the Warrior series instead of making it a cliché O.C Story. So please, bare with me, it will get good. I promise. Well, that's enough for now, enjoy and R&R!**_

* * *

Chapter 1

The Imaginairy Companion Of Echopaw

Evendawn panted for breath as she wound her way through the thick, winding pathway of twisting, gnarled tree trunks. The leaves above her head obscured the outside world from view, making it unimaginably dark in the canopy below.

She could hear the rapid fall patterns of paws against ground. She could smell the chaser; hot on her tail. She strained forward, pleading with herself to run faster. Her paws stumbled and tripped in the process, and she went flying, falling to the ground with a thud. She got to her paws, however; and made a quick recovery as she dove for a nearby tree trunk, and began to climb up it's thickly barked sides.

Her chaser shrieked in resentment, but followed up the tree after her in a below of heavy breaths.

Evendawn climbed on, her claws sinking into the bark and becoming coated in sticky, sweet smelling sap. But she didn't stop, she kept climbing and climbing until the limbs became so thin they could no longer support her weight.

Panting heavily and exhausted from her efforts, she pulled herself onto the thickest and closest branch she could find, and spun around, her golden eyes pleading.

The chaser huffed loudly, making its assent slow, and leisured, as to distress its prey for as long as it could.

Evendawn slunk back until she was backed against a long fall, and her chaser. It wouldn't be long now, the determined predator would soon be upon her, and would get what it wanted any time soon.

Finally, the chaser heaved itself up onto the same branch Evendawn sat on, raised itself into the air, and…

With a squeal of excitement, Echopaw leapt onto Evendawn and nipped her ear while chanting, "I got you; I got you!"

Evendawn smiled and laughed. "Why, yes you did! You're getting better and better at that game every day!"

"Ha, I make a pretty good chaser, don't I?" Echopaw beamed.

"Indeed you do, Echopaw. Your climbing skills are improving."

"Echopaw, Evendawn, get down here this instant!" a voice yowled from below.

The two sighed, and started their descent down the tree trunk.

When they reached the forest floor, they were welcomed with the sight of Forestprint standing at the base of the tree, flicking her tail crossly.

"Echopaw, darling, what in Skyclan's name are you doing climbing that high? You'll get yourself killed!" Forestprint scolded the young kit.

"But, Evendawn was with me, and we were having so much fun, and I-"

"No buts about it, missy. I don't ever want to see you climbing that high again. Understood?" Forestprint meowed.

Echopaw sighed; defeated. "Yes, Forestprint." She replied.

"Wonderful, now, run along and play. But don't go near those muddy puddles, I just cleaned your fur!" Forestprint called after Echopaw, who was clearly not listening whatsoever.

Evendawn glared at Forestprint. "She was doing fine, you know." She said matter-of-factly under her breath.

Forestprint sighed. "I know… I'm sorry, it's just; she's so small, and she is ever so runty and frail, that I'm afraid of her becoming hurt or injured."

"I understand, but… you need to have a little more faith in me. After all, I was the one who found her, remember?"

Forestprint smiled half-heartedly. "Yes, yes, I remember quite well. I- Echopaw! What did I say about the mud puddles?" she yowled quite suddenly, darting after the little kit in a huff.

It was well past sunhigh when Evendawn and Forestprint had to go. About the time they usually left little Echopaw in the glade by herself.

"I'm afraid it's high time for us to go, darling." Forestprint meowed, a trickle of sadness in her tone.

"Aw, but you always leave me here!" Echopaw mewed.

"We know, but we shall see you again very soon. We'll try to come see you around the same time, tomorrow. Alright?" Evendawn said, hoping it would convince the little kit to stay, which it usually did. But this time, it didn't.

"But I'm tired of waiting here! There's nothing to do, and there's no one to talk to! And it's always so cold at night." Echopaw complained.

Forestprint licked the little she-kit's cheek. "We'll be back soon, we promise."

"No you won't! You're going to leave me here all night, all morning and come back in the middle of the day! Why do you always leave me here anyways?" Echopaw yowled.

Evendawn and Forestprint grew quiet at this, giving each other uneasy looks.

"It's… Really nothing to worry about, Echopaw." Evendawn assured the frowning kit.

Echopaw looked down at her paws with sad eyes. "Okay…" she mewed.

With a few last affectionate nuzzles, the two she-cats padded off into the undergrowth.

"Hurry back!" Echopaw called after them hopefully, her high-pitched voice trilling through the woods for a matter of heartbeats. No answer seemed to follow.

Echopaw looked up to see dark, slate gray clouds, hovering in the sky and blocking out the sun. Rain would soon be on its way.

Hurriedly, the little kit rushed to her space between the large roots of the oak tree amongst molted leaves, whish were turning to mulch.

Curling into a tight ball and pressing her head close to her body, Echopaw looked out at her surroundings with tired eyes.

The last surviving leaves were finally giving way to the winds and heavy rains leaf-bare brought with it. The ground was always cold and damp, and covered with orange and brown leaves. The sky was rarely ever blue now, but instead, a cold and bitter gray that made days miserable, and long.

Frost was becoming more and more likely now, making the night seem endless as the bone chilling cold of winter would hold fast to any living thing it came in contact with and sucked as much warmth and energy as it could from its victims until they were left numb from the cold.

All this miserable thinking was leaving Echopaw lonelier and lonelier, as she longed ever so desperately for Evendawn and Forestprint; the only two cats she knew existed and the only real conversationalists she ever had.

But she wasn't completely alone; she always liked talking to small beetles or bugs that happened to crawl by. This irrational behavior infuriated Forestprint, however. She always advised that insects were not a thing to be spoken to, but instead, a source of nourishment. And with that, Forestprint would pounce upon the bug that Echopaw had been talking to, and squish it beneath her paws.

Evendawn had always rolled her eyes and told Forestprint to let it go, as it was just a kitten faze that Echopaw would soon grow out of as soon as she matured and learned that beetles couldn't understand her.

"Nonsense!" Forestprint would hiss. "Echopaw has no reason to speak with bugs, she is perfectly capable with communicating with her own kind. She does _not _need to be chatting with some insect! And the sooner she learns that, the better."

However, Echopaw didn't just talk to bugs. She would start a conversation with just about anything if she set her mind to it. Although, the conversation would always be one sided, seeing as Echopaw did all the talking.

She would chat with mice, frogs, birds, bats, and any other small animal. Most of the time, they would flutter, scuttle or dart away, leaving a puzzled, yet slightly satisfied Echopaw.

With a series of high-pitched squeaks, a small, brown rat scrambled into the clearing to pick at some crowfood Echopaw had discarded.

It's round, obsidian black eyes were narrowed with greed, as it grabbed hold of the rotting food with its tiny paws and began gnawing at it furiously.

Echopaw, seeing this as a conversation opportunity, rather then a chance at an easy meal, spoke up in her calm, welcoming voice she usually used when talking to animals.

"Hello." She started, tilting her head.

The rat, which was merely a fox length away, sat up and turned its pointed head in the direction of the young she-kit.

It wetted its small paws, ran them back and over its ears a few times, and resumed gnawing, not seeing the kit as much of a threat.

"That food's gone bad. I guess you don't really care though, do you?"

The rat flinched and looked back up at Echopaw. Its dark eyes stared into hers for a couple heartbeats, and all was silent.

But once again, the rat turned away from the kit and began eating its crowfood.

Echopaw sighed in defeat. "And… You can't even understand me."

"Now then, whoever said I couldn't understand you?"

Echopaw jumped nearly half a tail length into the air. She looked around frantically. "Who… Who said that? Who are you? Evendawn, Forestprint; is that you?"

"Nah. It's just me, silly kitten." The voice said again.

Echopaw's eyes shifted towards the rat, which was now sitting on top of the crowfood, and leaning towards her. It's dark black eyes wide.

"Thought you wanted some company. Hmm, guess not. I'll return to my eating then; seeing as you don't mind."

The kitten's eyes widened. "You… Can t-talk?"

"Well of course I can, silly kitten, how else would I be chatting with you then?"

Echopaw's breathing quickened. "Uh… O-Okay…"

The rat tilted its head and smirked. And in the blink of an eye, changed shape into a large raven with dark black feathers.

Echopaw squeaked, backing up against the oak tree's trunk. "Who… Who are you?"

The rat, which was now a raven, flapped its wings and cawed loudly. "Whoever you want me to be."

A name suddenly surfaced into the young kit's head. "Your name is… K'hali?"

The raven cawed, flapping its beautiful wings and fluttering over to the kitten. "Indeed it is, silly kitten. But I already know your name. It's Echopaw."

Echopaw make a squeaking noise in her throat. "H-How do you know that?"

The raven named K'hali cawed, a cold laughter mingled with it. "Silly, kitten. I thought that you would have found out by now for sure. I'm starting to doubt your intelligence."

Echopaw yowled, swatting K'hali with a paw. But upon contact, her paw waved through the raven's mid-section and passed through as if she was swiping at nothing more then air. K'hali's body rippled, and waved upon contact, and returned to normal once Echopaw's paw had played through it.

"Silly, silly, kitten." K'hali cawed. "One can't do any physical harm to their imagination. Honestly, I would of thought you to have known this by now!"

Echopaw stared at the raven, confused.

Narrowing his beady black eyes, K'hali hopped up onto a root beside Echopaw. "I'm a figment of your imagination. And when you wake up, I'll be gone."

"When I wake up?" Echopaw inquired.

Suddenly, the world around her began to blur, and fade until it was gone completely.


End file.
